Bali Municipality earmarks water supply, roads and classrooms as priority projects

Ngoh Ajong Sylvanus Dobgima

Ngoh Ajong Sylvanus Dobgima, Lord Mayor of Bali Municipality has earmarked water supply, road infrastructure and the construction of classrooms as priority projects for the 2018 Financial Year. He made this disclosure on Friday December 15, 2017 during the Council Session dedicated to the examination and adoption of the 2018 draft budget.

Commenting on the 2.48% decrease in the budget from that of the previous year he said “the decrease is as a result of a circular we had from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation that we should produce realistic budgets which we should be able to execute up to 95%. It has not decreased for important projects but has instead increased because we have funding from the state, other NGOs among others. In the last budget we realised projects such as the construction of classrooms, bridges, an Agro Pastoral show, and the payment of salary arrears to workers among other things.”

The Sociopolitical climate in the Northwest and Southwest Regions he said grounded a lot of businesses and these in turn refused to pay taxes. He further said some of the decreases this year were due to uncertainty on how things may turn out. “We don’t want to put a budget at a level that we will not be able to execute. Our priority projects this time around include water supply, classrooms and road maintenance.”

In his welcome speech the mayor said “the budget which balanced in revenue and expenditure at the sum of 386.600.000 FCFA have been structured in such a way that Bali Council will generate about 60.000 FCFA. This will come essentially from Bali daily market, Building Permit Fees, Park Access, Pound Fee, Sanitation Tax, Council Stamp Duty, Slaughter Fees and Council Rents to mention but these. To complete the table, the remaining revenue shall come from FEICOM, Public Investment Budget and PNDP following the convention signed with these structures.”

Mayor Dobgima further intimated that the council shall be responsible for projects such as Solar System at the Golar Water System, extension of electricity to Mum, grading of roads within the Mbufung Community, the organisation of the mini agro pastoral and crafts show, livestock competition and repayment of loans.

In collaboration with LIFIDEP the council will construct the Etoma-Koppin road, construct one A1 crush in the Koppin Fulani Community, a slaughter house at Gwan, sales slab at Njenka, a block of two classrooms and two toilets at GTC Naka and a community hall.;

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25% of 863 deaths at Bamenda Regional Hospital were related to HIV and AIDS

 - Director

Out of the about 863 deaths that were registered in 2017 at the Bamenda Regional Hospital, 25% of them were related to HIV and AIDS. This declaration was made by Dr. Kingue Thompson Njie, Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital on the occasion of the Prize Award Ceremony to meritorious staff on the 14^th of December 2017.

Governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique and Dr.Kingue Thompson Njie

The Regional Hospital Director declared that during the course of the year the hospital had 59.538 consultations, 13.371 patients admitted and 70.503 hospitalisation days which gave an average of 5 hospitalisation days per patient. Dr. Kingue also stated that an estimated 5% of the deaths could have been prevented. This category of deaths which he referred to as “careless deaths” is related to the fact that “many sick people come very late to the hospital at such a point when the doctors and nurses are unable to do anything again.” Preventable deaths he said “are found more among those people who are still unaware of the tremendous treatment opportunities the government has put at the disposal of all Cameroonians.”

Within the context of HIV care he said medications were free and that testing is also free for children and pregnant women. “Laboratory investigations for initiation of HIV therapy and follow up have been subsidized from a cost of 21.000FCFA to the bare minimum of 2.500 FCFA.”

He took out time to thank all those who had contributed in any way to improve upon the hospital. Beginning with the Governor of the North West Region and the Regional Delegate of Public Health for the North West, Dr Kingue thanked the Attorney General for the North West-Appeal Court, Professor Kuaban Christopher, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Bamenda, the Director of Saint Louis University Institute of Science and Technology- Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, North West Special Fund for Health Promotion and CBC Health Services – Professor Tih Pius among many others.

Doctor Kingue said from the chaplaincy of the hospital Rev. Father Oliver Gam designed the methodology which led to the identification of the winners that were honoured. The choice of best staff was guided by criteria such as sense of duty, honesty, competence, punctuality, work organisation and appearance.

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Communication between Regional and Smaller Hospitals isn’t effective.

Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital

Governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique and Dr. Kingue Thompson Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital

Doctor Kingue Thompson, Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital has declared that communication flow between the Bamenda Regional Hospital and smaller hospitals in the Region has not been very effective. This he said has resulted into the estimated 700 deaths that were registered at the hospital in the course of the year 2017. He was speaking recently during the Annual Prize Award ceremony that was organised on the 14^th of December within the premises of the Regional Health Establishment. Speaking in the presence of the Governor of the North West Region, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique, Dr. Lingue Thompson said the Regional Hospital remained the mother hospital in the Region and praised the courage the staff showed during 2017 which he said was a very difficult year. He was interviewed by Francis Ekongang Nzante of Edev Newspaper, Baarka Derick of Abakwa FM Radio and a host of other journalists. 

 Director, it is another moment for you to once more celebrate your staff. What exactly are you celebrating?

The staff of the Regional Hospital Bamenda is exceptionally happy. We are celebrating this 2017 end of year Prize Award ceremony in a special context. End of 2016 and most parts of 2017 were recorded as very rough moments for staff in this hospital. They worked under very difficult conditions yet one could see the determination, the courage and sacrifice. Even when we had ghost towns, staffs were able to come to work. Today the Administration of the hospital, following firm instructions from the Ministry of Public Health is celebrating all these wonderful men and women, Doctors, Nurses, Technicians and auxiliary workers. All of them have worked very hard though it is true that some of them received prizes today. Like in every community we are also looking at role models so that others can copy and in that way work in 2018 will be done in a manner more appealing to everyone.

You lost about 700 hundred lives in this hospital in 2017. Including reasons such as the late arrival of some of the victims what would you say contributed to this?

The Bamenda Regional Hospital is the Mother Hospital of the North West Region with the greatest number of specialists Doctors and nurses that you can find in any hospital in the Region. Unfortunately money has become the bait for health institutions unable to manage a wide spectrum of health problems. It is not because you are a health institution that has cured two cases of Malaria that you should think you can now cure heart diseases. Unfortunately, the relay of communication between us and the small hospitals has not been very effective. When patients have money, these hospitals want to make sure that the money is completely finished before they are released. To make matters worse there have been complications that doctors here find themselves in very helpless situations. I am not saying that patients who come here cannot die but I am simply expressing my desire to have saved at least a few out of all those who died.

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It has been a tortuous road towards school reopening in NW

   Apah Itor Johnson, Regional Delegate of Secondary Education

Apah Itor Johnson

You came into the Region when the English Educational Sub System was at a cross roads. 

I was installed as Regional Delegate of Secondary Education for the North West Region on the 23^rd of August 2017.  It has certainly been a tortuous road towards school reopening.  If things have improved up to this stage, I must thank all stakeholders for the present situation of things. At a certain point we realised that we were not supposed to have left everything in the hands of the teachers and the parents so we brought in the school administrators. We brought in everybody and that’s why we have not stopped concerted efforts with the parents and the students who are at the center of it all. This will involve confidence building because what happened is that confidence was completely destroyed and the parents and teachers developed mind sets which were different from what you expected them to be. We therefore have to do everything necessary to convince everyone concerned of the necessity to go to school. 

Your school principals are also assembled today in what is considered a very important meeting. What are the main issues being discussed?

From time to time we need to bring them together for rehearsals but this rendezvous is more than just rehearsals. I have been here for four months during which I have realised that they cannot operate in ignorance. We felt that it was necessary that we gave them some training. We realised that it had come to a stage where we don’t need trials and that principals really needed to know what they were doing. This workshop will build them up and make them work confidently. 

What has been done to make sure that schools reopen in the private sector?

We always involve all the sectors in meetings that we hold here. Every time that we come together we make sure that the private sector is present. We invite private education secretaries so that all decisions and actions that are carried out are enforced in both the public and private educational sectors. That is why I am always present every time incidents occur in the private sector. When there was a fire incident at the Sacred Heart College at Mankon in Bamenda I was there and when the same thing occurred at Presbyterian Secondary School Bafut, I was also there. The private sector has come to help the government whose responsibility is it to educate Cameroonians.

Interviewed By Ekongang Nzante Lenjo 

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Annual General Assembly of North West Geography Teachers Association

Deliberations focus on advantages of Second Generation Geography

 

 By Francis Ekongang Nzante

Tangi Simon Tacho, President of North West Geography Teachers Association has disclosed that Second Generation Geography was one of the main concerns of the Annual General Assembly that took place recently at the North West Regional Delegation of Secondary Education at Up Station in Bamenda.

“Our focus” Tangi Simon Tacho said “was on Second Generation Geography for Environmental Protection. Our purpose is to strengthen the teachers and make them know that in Second Generation Geography, Competency Based Approach is the main economic value for geographers. Unlike the Objective Based Approach, in the Competence Based Approach the teacher is the facilitator. He builds in children, attitudes and competences that can enable them solve problems out of the classroom. In trying to do this, we have factorised certain elements trying concentrate on the tacticum of the competence based approach.”

The President of North West Geography Teachers Association also talked on issues affecting the output of students in Geography. He spilled it out in the following manner; “We also looked at the inadequacy of students through their performance in the previous General Certificate of Education sessions. We are also introducing them to GIS so that they can be able to source information because their programme requires them to be able to explore, exploit and export the Geography content into society. Because this will help them see for themselves and be able to combat the challenges that we are facing like the present development trends which do not help us to protect our environment.”

On how his colleagues responded to the themes of the deliberations of the AGM, the President of North West Geography Teachers Association, Tangi Simon Tacho said “Any change is not always easily embraced and that’s why we are taking a subtle approach. This explains why in the previous Annual General Assemblies, we have always enshrined the Competency Based Approach.”

Commenting on the evolution of results in Geography, at the General Certificate of Education for the past couple of years, the President of North West Geography Teachers Association said “there are so many variables; firstly there is the reviewed syllabus to which people are still adapting and the second one is that children leave primary six and are grappling with a whole lot of things that they have to cover and all of this is having an effect on their output including Geography which is now generalized.”

The Annual General Assembly brought together Geography teachers from Secondary schools in all the Divisions in the Region. The teachers present came from Government, Lay Private and Confessional Secondary Schools and High Schools and the rich presentations touched on a wide range of issues all focused on the teaching of Geography.

       

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